Firefox for Android has been a disappointment in the mobile browser world for a while now. Let’s go through the many reasons why Firefox for Android just isn’t measuring up:
- Android’s security measures are lackluster. It’s like leaving a toddler to guard a candy store - not very effective.
- Certificate Issues: Firefox for Android is like a friend who never gives you the full scoop. While Chrome reveals all the details about a website’s security certificates, Firefox leaves users in the dark.
- Engine Rewrite Fail: Firefox for Android attempted to one-up Chrome by rewriting their engine, but the result was a flop bigger than my last cake-baking attempt.
- No Mute Tab Option: Firefox for Android doesn’t offer any way to mute tabs, a feature that Chrome has had built-in for ages.
- Limited Extension Support: Firefox for Android is trying to lure users away from Chrome by supporting 450 extensions, but browsers like Yandex, Samsung Internet, and Kiwi have offered full extension support for years. Firefox is late to the party, and their limited selection might not be enough to sway users who value extensive customization.
- Unclear Address Bar Search: When you search in the address bar of Firefox for Android, only the search term is displayed, making it difficult to ascertain if the URL is legitimate or not.
- No Clear URL Display Option: Unlike some other mobile browsers, Firefox for Android does not offer an option to always display the full URL, including the protocol and “www” prefix, in the address bar.
- Persistent Full-Screen Bug: The full-screen bug (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1797340) has been hanging around Firefox for Android for years, and they’re slower than a sloth when it comes to fixing it.
- Lackluster Design: Firefox for Android’s design is like a cheap knock-off of a premium product.
- Analytics Overload: Firefox for Android has both Google and Firefox Analytics baked in. Talk about bloatware.
- Compatibility Issues: Firefox for Android breaks more sites than a bull in a china shop, Compatibility is not its strong suit.
- Bookmark Management Troubles: Firefox for Android presents a number of frustrating issues when managing bookmarks, which significantly lag behind the standards set by its competitors. Users are unable to edit bookmarks during a search due to the absence of the “hamburger” icon for editing options. Additionally, when multiple bookmarks are selected, the only choice offered is to delete them, with no other options available. The process of organizing favorite bookmarks becomes a tedious task, as users are unable to easily arrange them, and cannot move multiple bookmarks to a single folder in one go, but instead have to move them individually. Moreover, users are unable to see the number of bookmarks in a folder, making it difficult to manage and organize bookmarks effectively. These limitations pose significant challenges to the overall user experience, causing Firefox for Android to fall short of the expectations set by other browsers in terms of bookmark management.
- Limited Customization: Firefox for Android claims to be “customizable,” but it doesn’t offer any significant customization options that Chrome doesn’t already have. While Firefox does provide some basic customization features, such as enabling or disabling the shortcuts and jump back in features on the homepage, these options are also available in Chrome. In fact, Chrome offers additional customization features like moving the search bar to the bottom, adding widgets to the home screen, and a dark mode. Thus, Firefox for Android falls short in terms of offering anything truly unique or groundbreaking in the realm of customization.
- The home button located near the address bar is a persistent eyesore, refusing to disappear even when you want it to. This inflexibility contradicts Firefox for Android’s claim of being “customizable,” leaving users frustrated and disappointed.
- No Tab Groups: Firefox for Android is stuck in the past, with no option for tab groups.
- View Lists of All Websites: Firefox for Android lacks a feature that allows users to easily view lists of all websites saved, cached, or cookie-stored on their device. This can be inconvenient for users who want to manage their online content effectively. The absence of this feature may make Firefox less appealing to users who prefer browsers with more comprehensive options for data access and control.
- No Split-Screen UI: Want to use Firefox while doing something else simultaneously? Unfortunately, you can’t because the UI won’t adapt properly to a split-screen mode.
- No “New Window” Feature: Unlike Chrome, Firefox for Android doesn’t have the “New Window” feature that allows users to open a new instance of the browser while using another app. In Chrome, you can access this by opening the menu (the “hamburger” icon) and selecting “New Window,” which will open a second Chrome window. Even if Firefox had this feature, its UI issues would likely prevent you from accessing it, as the UI would be outside the reachable area in a split-screen mode.
- Constant Forced-Unloading of Tabs: Firefox for Android often forcibly unloads tabs under memory pressure or after using another app for a while and keeping Firefox in the background.
- Lack of Tab Previews: Unlike competitors, Firefox for Android doesn’t offer tab previews, making it difficult to quickly identify tabs.
- No Dedicated Tablet UI: Firefox for Android does not have a dedicated tablet UI, making the browsing experience on a tablet less than ideal as the UI is not optimized for the larger screen size.
- Poor WebAssembly Support: Firefox for Android struggles with WebAssembly, leading to more issues than solutions.
- Lack of Complete Video Format Support: Firefox for Android doesn’t support all video formats, leaving users frustrated and searching for alternative browsers.
- No Offline Dino Game: Firefox for Android takes itself too seriously to include a fun offline game like Chrome’s Dino game.
- Unreliable Offline Page Caching: If you’re offline and need to access a previously visited page, don’t count on Firefox for Android to have your back. Its cached pages are about as reliable as a broken compass, leaving you in the lurch when you need them the most. You’re better off using smoke signals. 26: Absent Context Menu Titles: Firefox for Android falls short when it comes to displaying the titles of links within the context menu, leaving users guessing about the destination of the link. This glaring omission is a serious inconvenience for users who rely on context menus to navigate and manage their browsing experience.
- Bloated and Slow: Firefox for Android is more bloated than Chrome, making it slower and less efficient.
- All Talk, No Action: Firefox for Android is like a friend who always promises to do better, but never follows through.
- Clumsy Performance: Firefox for Android is like a clumsy waiter - always dropping the ball. Stick with Chrome, folks. It may not be perfect, but at least it won’t leave you hanging.
Some Firefox fans are attempting to manipulate me into developing features myself, so they can benefit from my work and free time. They seem unwilling to contribute or offer support, and expect others to do all the work for them. It’s disappointing that they can barely type a few words before complaining about fatigue, yet they expect others to dedicate their time and effort to developing features for their benefit.
Using Firefox on Android to “improve” your privacy is pointless - it’s like saying cutting off your nose will prevent COVID. Firefox doesn’t have its own WebView, so it relies on the system WebView, which is based on Chromium. This means you’re still indirectly using Google’s technology. Additionally, since Android is made by Google, using Firefox on it doesn’t really make a difference. It’s like having toddlers guard your security - ineffective and unreliable.
That’s like an opinion, man. Or 24.
None
Firefox fanboys are blinded by the cons
You’re grandstand shitposting unless you contribute to the github. Write this in a constructive place.
Oh did i hurt your feeling because mozilla didn’t add that and that.
and also i did contribute using ChatGPT as everyone also does.
do you think mozilla accepts every contribute or doesn’t ignore it for years just like this simple bugzilla.
and do you think everyone is a dev.
im not a dev i am a user.
also this is not a shitpost and this whole sub is shitposting just because i posted something negative doesn’t make it a shitpost.
-
You don’t hurt my feelings because none of what you say is based in facts. You can tell me the sky is green but that won’t hurt my feelings as I stare into the deep blue sky.
-
ChatGPT isn’t open source, it is proprietary.
-
Users can submit issues, no dev bona fides required. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=Firefox https://connect.mozilla.org/?utm_source=sumo&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=support
-
They do not accept every issue, true. In fact yours probably won’t get accepted because it is baseless, not proved or cited, incorrect, a shitpost, etc. Constructive, evidence based criticism is not what you have done. These are unfounded criticisms, or personal preferences laced with ad hominem. This is shitposting.
Although this post may be a shitpost, it highlights the issues with Firefox for Android and points out that it is behind Chrome in terms of performance on the Android platform. Additionally, the ‘All sites’ feature in Chrome, which allows users to view all websites saved on their phone, including cached and cookie data, is not available in Firefox. This feature is important as it enables users to have control over their privacy by preventing random websites from saving cookies or cache data on their device without their knowledge.
I invite you to look at add-ons, this is an add-on for firefox. Your criticisms fall into some categories: pure preference, features already in Firefox Mobile, or baseless criticism lobbied against “fanboys”.
People have many reasons for supporting and using an open source project that does not use Blink/WebKit and/or one that isn’t capitalistically driven, etc. Chrome is spyware.
I’m happy that you have an alternative but don’t be surprised that people will push back when your arguments are not clear and shrouded in watery ad-hominem.
-
Wow you’re openly mocking people while crying about being mocked.
Tell us why your opinion matters?
I’m not mocking anyone, but I am pointing out to Firefox fanboys on the Lemmy front page why it’s a bad idea to push for users to switch to Firefox on Android. You can’t convince Android users to switch if the browser is poorly designed and lacks features that they need. If the UI is bad or features are missing, normies will uninstall it as soon as they realize it doesn’t meet their expectations. It’s important to be realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of any product or service before advocating for its use.
Firefox fanboys are blinded by the cons
Cool, fortunately you can just use Chrome if you like it so much - nobody os forcing you to suffer with Firefox - just uninstall it and move on!
Man thats just my opinion about the browser dude we can’t hide the issues and only show the good side.
Your “opinion” lacks evidence or experience to back it up. If you daily drive it a while you can have an option. You just have bias.
I daily drove Firefox, but now it’s enough. Did you even check Bugzilla before responding? Is that all you’re good at? I’ve been dealing with a fullscreen bug for a year now, and it’s enough. The bug makes Firefox look like garbage. Yes, that’s right; I don’t even know how I managed to stay a month using it. If a normie used it, they would have quit instantly. The Bugzilla is proof that Firefox prioritizes money over users, and they are no better than Chrome.
I’m not hiding anything - I’m just one of those weird people that uninstall apps I think are garbage and don’t continue to use them. These issues are clearly important to you, and it seems Chrome ticks every single box for you, while Firefox does not. Fortunately you have a choice, and you can use your preferred browser - nothing wrong about that. I prefer Firefox and uninstalled Chrome, you can do the opposite and we’ll both be happy.
Thanks man for not mocking me i will uninstall it as you suggested
Damn, now lets see your GitHub contributions to the cause.
Damn, lets see yours.
I’m not bitching about it so its zero. But if you have so many issues you are free to contribute to make it better.
That’s fine if you didn’t contribute, but don’t mock others who haven’t either. I don’t have a Mozilla or GitHub account, and I don’t want to create one, because I want to see this browser die. Therefore, I won’t contribute. Instead, I will support Chromium because it always respects users’ choices, unlike the greedy Mozilla.
You throw your fat list of criticisms up online and then get mad when people tell you to make it better. Okay, chief. Keep shilling for a monopolized browser.
I’m not shilling for any browser, but I don’t support Firefox. It’s a memory hog, heavy, and bloated, and it takes money from Chrome. Chrome helps Firefox develop, so don’t get your hopes up. Firefox codes are all made by Google, even the WEBP code. That’s right, Firefox supports WEBP, which was made by Google. Get your brain together before commenting, you stupid B#@9;{£.
Ah, I was dancing with a troll
What pisses me off the most on FF for Android is that smart bookmarks just don’t work…
Are you saying that the bookmark management in Chrome is better and more flexible than Firefox?
No. Chrome doesn’t even have smart bookmarks at all!
Yes bookmarklet does work in chrome in fact my browser in android is full of bookmarklets.
as for why the bookmarklet not working for you i have a fix for you buddy firefox doesn’t let bookmarklets work in the address bar so you need to bookmark the code and then click it and if it doesn’t work you just need to disable all the extensions that block scripts like Noscript, Ublock, Etc And then bookmark the code and search the bookmark name through the address bar and click it.
Also bookmarklet works in chrome too you may not know how to do it.
Why the fuck are you talking about bookmarklets?
I said smart bookmarks! Chome doesn’t even have this feature at all!
Next time get your head out of your ass before posting.
Chrome Android has Smart Bookmark and Bookmarklets, but you’re too blind to see them.
I’m talking about Bookmarklet first because it’s way better than Smart Bookmark. With Bookmarklet, you can simply type “GOOGLE FUCK ME” and it will open Google with the search term already filled in, you dumb fuck.
You can also use Bookmarklet as a alternative to Smart Bookmarklet to search for “GOOGLE FUCK ME”. Here’s what you do, fucker:
javascript:(function() { const googleTits=prompt("Google have sex with me"); location = "https://www.google.com/search?q=" + googleTits; })();Stop fucking with me and don’t expect people to help you if you’re a fucker. Firefox is fucking crap because it got broken ass, so Chrome is always better. Remember to be polite or I won’t help you with your issues
In fact, Chrome offers additional customization features like moving the search bar to the bottom, adding widgets to the home screen, and a dark mode.
Firefox also has those features too. I don’t think you can even move the search bar to the bottom in Chrome.
Yes man it does but not the official chrome app its forks like Vivaldi, Yandex, kiwi browser, Cromite
Then it’s not Chrome then is it?
Firefox still has those features tho.
Yeah so most of these are just unsupported opinion. Why don’t you just add crying and whining to your post to really cap off your bias?
Hey there, thanks for sharing your opinion. It seems like you’re pretty passionate about defending Firefox, but I stand by my points. If you think my post was ‘crying and whining,’ then you might want to check your definition of those terms. As for bias, well, everyone has opinions and preferences, and that’s what makes the internet such an interesting place. So instead of getting all worked up about it, why don’t you provide some counterarguments or valid points of your own? That’s what a real discussion is all about, after all. But hey, if you’re just here to throw around insults, maybe you’re the one who needs to do some growing up.
Hey there, thanks for sharing your opinion of my opinion. It seems like you’re pretty passionate about making up complete bs to attack Firefox, I think everyone would stand by that point. I think your post is biased and largely anecdotal as I have already said, I did not say you were crying or whining but that you could just as easily add both to the post and they would fit right in line with your other non factual arguments. As for bias yours could only be more clear if you revealed your self-created manga where you and Chrome have a short romance which then shifts to you being the bottom that you have always hoped you’d become only for things to fall apart as Chrome runs out of RAM while giving birth.
Atleast im not in bed with firefox
I currently use 3 browsers, DuckDuckGo, FF and Chrome, slowly phasing Chrome out. Most of your reasons are just your opinions packaged with catchy lingo. Most of the points where you actually try to expand to, you’re wrong and provide horrible examples. Most people switch to firefox for reasons that might be beyond your needs.
Sure i guess you have to deal with that awful purple shit in private mode and yet it claims its “customizable”
Firefox is like the faithful buddy who, while not perfect, does his best to get things done for you, unlike the popular kids or the TikTok cogniscenti, who expect you to play ball or get dropped like a hot brick.
I’ll keep mine, thanks.
I never forced you to switch to chrome its not like i have a gun in your head man this is just issues i have with it i need the chrome features because i play games and use a lot of webassembly
Hi, chrome sucks and Firefox is the superior choice to make. If you don’t understand that it’s okay, however the burden is yours.
PC is the only platform where Firefox truly shines. It’s clear that Mozilla’s focus is now on PC, and they’ve abandoned Firefox for Android. It took them nearly a decade to add extension support, and at this rate, it’ll take another 30 decades to fix everything on the list. And by then, Chrome will have added even more features, while Firefox fans will still be lazing around. I wouldn’t be surprised if I could seduce the Mozilla CEO with my manhood, make her bleed, and then wipe Firefox off the face of the earth.
Wow that is… a lot to unpack.
This is way above my pay grade so I’d advise you to seek the help of someone who knows how to deal with this sort of stuff.
If you’re doing sensitive browsing on your phone I would also advise you to change your habits if privacy and extension support are truly your goal. If that’s the case you should consider abandoning all meta mobile providers and run a Linux mobile os like graphene or the like.
Enjoy
edgyedge or whatever you kids use these days.
I never said you did. I just said I’d keep my Firefox as an expression of my choice. Gun to my head? Really? You seem awfully sensitive at all of the comments here. Is everything ok? Just keep your chrome and uninstall Firefox if it doesn’t work for you. Jeebus! Chill man.
I enjoy Firefox as my default android browser because I enjoy the best reader mode and extensions like Dark Reader and UBO. 400+ extensions is more than enough for me. Last time I checked, Chrome offered zero extensions on mobile. It tracks me and sends ads.
Yeah only chrome but not kiwi or yandex
I know nothing about kiwi or yandex. Maybe the next time I’m checking out alternative browsers I’ll take a look. Do they have desktop and mobile versions?
They are just based on chrome but with different skin or more features What do you mean by mobile and desktop version do you mean if they have a pc one no i don’t think it does but if its about the desktop mode yes i think
Heh. I use Firefox with DDG as my search engine exclusively now. No ads for me.
Hey didn’t duckduckgo censor russian websites and i use other languages than english and duckduckgo doesn’t return accurate results with the language i use, i actually just have searxng setup in termux set termux in background and type http://127.0.0.1:8888
Removed by mod
“ChatGPT, please verbosely explain why Firefox sucks and the other browsers are better. You should use bullet points and have some humorous jabs poked at Firefox.”
Even without the stupid remarks (breaks more sites than a bull in a China shop, seriously?) it was pretty evident reading your comments that this was AI made, since you can’t even use a comma.
Do you assume all posts that have typos are made by bots?
Typing for longer will increase the risk of typos, so i don’t think ChatGPT can make typos easily.
I agree with you in certain points, but there are others that are just wrong. Seem like you didn’t even check what you wrote. Also, you compare it constantly with Chrome, but then in the comments you talk about other Chromium-based browsers that have even less market share, which is it?
I won’t deny that you’re right in some points, but please fact check what you just wrote before complaining.
I am aware that some of the information shared may not be completely accurate, and that just because a bug can be replicated by one person, it does not mean it will be replicated by everyone. However, I have personally experienced the bug in the Bugzilla link and believe that it is related to Android 11 and taller phone models. I would appreciate any insight you have on this issue, and will take your advice on being more careful with what I post in the future.
